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If the pump fails or a water line becomes crimped, or otherwise blocked slowing or stopping the flow of water, damage to the laser tube is likely.

This project will demonstrate how to create a flow rate monitor and alarm that will disable the laser when the water flow rate drops to an unacceptable level.Philips Ultrasonic Probe Whether you have a professional, high quality CO2 laser, such as the Full Spectrum laser, or an inexpensive "K40" laser like mine, this is a must have tool to protect your investment.

And even if you don't currently have a CO2 laser, this article will teach valuable concepts that can be applied to many other projects, including how to write native Windows software that interfaces with an Arduino based circuit.Haiying Transducer In particular, it will demonstrate a simple MFC application that displays the water flow rate, alarm status, laser power status, and which allows a user to configure the threshold at which the water flow alarm will sound (and disable power to the laser tube.)

Here is a video of the device in action.

A more comprehensive video be warned, this one is narrated and the narrator was tongue tied! ;)

Thanks to the power of the Arduino, this device is relatively simple to build. I used mostly parts from my electronics stock pile. If you have different but similar parts, try those. Because I elected to use a Seeed Studio Relay Shield, it made sense to use an Arduino Shield Proto PCB to connect up everything else.

PARTS LIST:

An Arduino or compatible board that will work with standard Arduino Shields

I used an old Arduino Duemilanove, but an A (Note: You can find these on eBay at a good discount). Water Flow Sensor ($6.50) Opto isolator 380 Ohm Resistor (1/8 W) 10K Ohm Resistor (1/8 W) Radio Shack Piezo Buzzer (273 0795) Radio Shack 7x5x3" Project Enclosure (270 1807) Various wire, connectors, and cable as desired for your system